GRADUATING EARLY: BENEFITS AND DRAWBACKS

At Clear Creek Amana High School, there are opportunities available to students to graduate early, whether that be by a semester or a year. There are both benefits and drawbacks to graduating high school early. Determining which outweighs the other comes down to each individual student and what their plans and goals are for after high school. 

SENIORS FROM THE CLASS OF 2025 TURNING OVER THEIR TASSELS AT GRADUATION CEREMONY; PHOTO BY SHAUNTAI BURTON

Raelee Day: A Semester Early Graduate

Raelee Day is a senior graduating a semester early this winter. During her sophomore year of high school, she made the decision to graduate early and began planning and coordinating with guidance counselor Shannon Reisinger and teacher Natalie Fry. 

Day ensured she would fulfill all of the 56 credits required to graduate by the end of the first semester of her senior year by taking courses online and over the summer. Her summers going into junior and senior year were spent taking a couple of online classes. While in her opinion, the online classes “weren’t difficult”, she did acknowledge that they are “not for everyone because of all the long videos you have to watch”. She went on to explain that students learn a semester's worth of content during these online courses over the summer.

Day felt motivated by various factors. She described the sense of achievement and making her family proud as her main sources of motivation.

“There were a lot of things that motivated me,” Raelee Day explained. “The main ones I would say is to first prove to myself that I could, even if I wasn’t the best in school, that if I put my mind to it I could do it. Second, to make my family proud and be the first person to graduate early.”

This year, the first semester ends on January 14 instead of the last day before winter break. This was done to balance out the semesters and ensure the needed amount of instruction time is fulfilled. So those graduating a semester early have to come back to school for eight more school days instead of being completely finished when winter break begins like in previous years. Understandably so, Day felt some frustration upon initially finding out after planning on and looking forward to being finished in December 2025 since her sophomore year.

Nevertheless, she feels “very excited” knowing she has less than two weeks left of high school. It’s a very rewarding feeling to see all of her hard work “finally about to pay off.” 

Day also explained that while graduating early may not be for everyone, it can be a “good option” for students that are “planning on going into a trade or straight into work after high school”. She recommends taking into consideration future jobs and career goals after high school and whether or not you’re planning on going to college.

She mentioned that for students who graduate a semester early, they have the option to return for the graduation ceremony with the rest of their class in the spring. She plans on coming back to participate and walk the stage with the rest of the class of ‘26. 

Now, she looks forward to moving to Oregon with plans to do welding. Originally from Washington state, Day is excited to be “closer to family”. She explained that graduating high school a semester early provides her with “a chance to start working full time” sooner which allows her to “save up more for that.” 

Olivia Roling: A Year Early Graduate

Olivia Roling is currently a first-year student at the University of Iowa majoring in Biology (Bachelor of Arts) with the addition of pre-med and a minor in German. Roling graduated from Clear Creek Amana High School a year early, in 2025, allowing her to attend the University of Iowa through the Bucksbaum Early Entrance Academy. 

OLIVIA ROLING AND HER ROOMMATE MOVING INTO THEIR DORM AT DAUM; PHOTO BY OLIVIA ROLING

Roling, originally class of 2026, felt that she had outgrown high school and was ready to take the next steps into her future. The opportunity to complete high school her junior year and move on to college a year early seemed like the suitable solution. 

“I felt like high school had run its course for me. I had checked off all the high school experiences and none of the classes felt challenging anymore. When you are stuck in a place that no longer allows you to grow, you start to look for a way to get out. When I heard about the Bucksbaum Early Entrance Academy at the University of Iowa, it felt like my way out,” Roling said.  

After she received her acceptance letter from the program in late March, Roling and her parents met with CCAHS Principal Thomas Daniel to coordinate how she would fulfill her credits needed to graduate in just a couple short months. She greatly appreciated Daniel’s support in her journey.

Through courses available online and an extreme amount of dedication and hard work, Roling was able to complete a year’s worth of English, along with a semester’s worth of American Government, Physical Education, and Personal Finance in less than three months. 

Online courses are usually provided as a resource in instances where a student needs to retake a class they had failed. But in addition to this, they can be used to help students get ahead and graduate early, with proper planning and coordination.

“These were an insane few months of my life where I did very little other than schoolwork for these classes and my regular eight classes,” Roling explained in full transparency. “If you want to graduate early, start working toward that way sooner than two months before graduation!” 

Through the Bucksbaum Early Entrance Academy, Roling received a scholarship and lives on campus in Daum Residence Hall along with other students partaking in the program. She explained that she lives on the same floor with other early graduates and within their community, they have special events. She looks forward to seeing Clue the musical at Hancher next semester, which is paid for by the academy. With all of this, she feels that some “pressure was lifted off [her] shoulders”.

Roling is on track to graduate with her bachelor’s over the span of three years, positioning her to graduate from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Iowa in the spring of 2028. She achieved this through college credit she earned from AP and Kirkwood classes. Had she done the regular path of four years of high school and college each, she would have graduated college in 2030 instead. She described the idea as still sometimes feeling “like a dream”. 

Roling is now working toward her goals of earning her pre-med degree, attending medical school, and then becoming an obstetrician. 

She recommends the opportunity of graduating early to students who feel confident in what they want to do after high school and prepared to take the next step in life. She advises high schoolers that feel scared for their future or unsure about their plans after high school to not rush the present. Instead, use this time to explore interests and grow in confidence and skills you will need when you become an adult and have to be more independent and responsible. 

How To Graduate Early

If a student wants to graduate high school early, they have a few things to consider first. For instance, if your goal is to go straight into the workforce, graduating a semester early means you can start working full time sooner and start making more money earlier. But if you’re planning on going to college in the fall, it would not be advised to graduate a semester early and take off the spring semester. However, it may be possible to graduate high school a semester early and start college a semester early. 

Guidance counselor Megan Carlo explained that there are some perks that an early high school graduate would have to be willing to give up. Due to this, high school students who want to graduate early and their parents/guardians have to sign a form indicating that they understand and agree to waive those perks.

“[Early graduates] would no longer be able to take Kirkwood classes by having CCA pay for them. So that’s something I always tell high school students to think about. If they want to continue to utilize that perk, then they should not graduate early,” Carlo elaborated. She also mentioned that if a student graduates early they would not be able to attend prom unless they get invited as another student’s date. 

Additionally, to graduate early, summer school or online courses may be utilized to make certain all required credits are met. But passing all classes the first time you take them is important to make sure you fulfill everything in the shortened amount of time. For example, when graduating a semester early you will have had seven semesters with eight classes each totaling 56 attempted and fulfilled credits. There wouldn’t be room to retake classes or have open blocks the first semester of your senior year unless you take extra classes online. 

Four years of English are required to fulfill graduation requirements at Clear Creek Amana. To achieve this when graduating early, students would need to double up on English, whether that be by being enrolled in two English classes during a semester or taking an online course. 

When graduating a semester early as a senior, taking year-long courses such as AP classes would not be feasible. If there are AP classes you want to take, you would want to take them all your junior year.

With all of the planning necessary to make sure all graduation requirements are met, a student wanting to graduate early should talk to their guidance counselor sooner rather than later. If you want to graduate a semester early, you would need to meet with your counselor at the very beginning of senior year at the latest. Ideally, discussing the idea with your counselor during your junior year, or sooner, would be best to make things easier scheduling wise.

After students meet with their counselor and decide to graduate early, they will need to fill out some paperwork along with their parents or guardians. Then it needs to be approved by the school board and admin.

With all things considered, from the planning and scheduling to doing what aligns best with your goals for after high school, it is not surprising that not many students choose to graduate early each year. Usually there are no more than five early graduates per class. While it is uncommon, for some students it suits their goals and helps them achieve their ambitions sooner. The most important thing is to consider your plans and do what is best for you.